I just finished The LEGO Story. Besides being an entertaining history of hands-down the greatest toy ever invented by the greatest company ever (Bias? Guilty as charged), the book is also a great profile of several generations of visionary leadership.
Even when LEGO was just a tiny manufacturer of hand-made wooden toys (bet you didn’t know that), its founder was driven by a vision of creating toys that helped children develop via imaginative play. Over the decades, LEGO’s vision has evolved, but it has never deviated from that core element.
For LEGO, vision is a lighthouse, a beacon of steadfastness and stability in the storm of uncertainty.
In IGW Insights Issue 5, I introduced The Focus Equation. In this issue, I want to dive deeper into the why and how of vision. I’m inspired by this oft-quoted passage from Alice In Wonderland (referenced in The LEGO Story):
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“–so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
As a business owner and CEO, are you willing to wander directionless long enough to determine which trail will take you to a meaningful destination? Click here for more on this.
Journaling Exercise
Get a pen and a stack of paper. Find a couple of distraction-free hours. If you’re like me, this will be at a place with excellent coffee. Like Power Coffeeworks in Jerusalem.
Next, put pen to paper and let your imagination flow. The following prompts will help:
- Gandhi famously said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” How does your company’s product or service improve the world? How does it make someone’s life or work easier? How does it bring joy, pleasure, or great value to your customers? This is your mission.
- Now imagine that you’ve just stepped out of a time machine set for three years from today. And in those three years, your teammates have done everything right.
- What has your company accomplished in service of the mission? What gift have you given? To whom? What results have you achieved?
- What kind of people do you have on your team? What does it feel like to work with your teammates?
- How is the team more capable? What can they do now that they couldn’t do three years ago?
- What does the work environment look like? What colors and physical features do you see? Or is your team completely virtual? How does that feel?
- What are you most proud of having accomplished, contributed, repaired, or surrendered?
- At this point, perhaps you’ve been writing for an hour or so. Maybe two hours or longer. Set your writing aside, take a walk, and get back into routine.
- Revisit what you wrote the next day, or a couple of days later. Share it with your team.
Remember, it is your role as a leader to create the conditions that let your team make their optimal contributions. Your mission and vision are what compel your team’s idealism and drive sacrifice.
They also serve as a filtering mechanism, helping employees independently determine how to invest their time and energy.
Give your company the gift of vision. Go forth and lead!
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Onward and upward,
Dan Weiss, CEO
